Which signature dining experience would you defintely not take young children to?

[maznorm]

I have been reading reports of certain signature dining experiences being more suitable for families with young children than others. Then the next poster will say to definitely not take young children to the restaurant.

So my questions is, aside from V & A's because we know they can't go there, which signature dining experience would you definitely not take or expect to see young children at? My children will be 4 and 3 years old when we go.

 

[disneygirlinnj]

I just think the big debate depends on how well your children behave. If they can sit through a quiet 2 hour meal and keep themselves occuopied, they'd be happy anywhere!

 

[Hootch]

noted children are at pretty much all of the signature dining restaurants. Jiko and AP seem to have fewer kids than other places, but there are kids at these places too.

If your kids are used to longer dining experiences or are well behaved at dinner, don't hesitate to take them to any of the signature places.

 

[Cheshire Figment]

At Bistro de Paris presence of children is discouraged; they do not have a children's menu and do expect leisurely dining. A recent time I ate there we were a party of six, got seated at 7:45, and left the restaurant at 11:05. We were politely escorted out of the park (just sort of followed closely so we did not stray) and according to Security were the last Guests out of the park that night when we walked through the front gate at 11:20.

 

[Crystal824]

We had dinner last week at CG. Our reservations were for 8:00 p.m. We got there around 7:45 p.m. We were seated around 8:30. We did not leave until 11:15. We didn't have any children in our party, but I was wondering what you would do to keep a kid entertained for that amount of time. There was a child at a neighboring table watching a movie on an Iphone. He wasn't that young probably 9 or 10. There weren't any very small children at least sitting near us at CG that night.

 

[princessmom29]

I don't think there is really any restaurant I simply wouldn't take DD5 to in or out of Disney unless they had an "adults only" policy. She loves to eat out, and to participate in whatever dinner conversation is going on. As long as she is included she is fine, and really enjoys the experience. When my inlaws are in town they make a point of taking us to a nice restaurant for dinner, and we have had many two hour plus dinners with DD pretty much since she was 6 weeks old. I think it makes a difference that for the first 3 years of her life we lived away from family. If we wanted to go out to dinner we took her with us.

 

[ugadog68]

You can take your kids to all of them

 

[Stinky_Pete]

Children may behave differently at WDW signature restaurants than they do at home.

• At WDW they may be more excited than at home due to all the stimulation.
• At WDW, come dinner time, they may be more exhausted than they would be at dinner time at home.
• As has been mentioned, signature dining at WDW is often a lengthy affair.

Because of this I would encourage families with young children to book earlier ADR times, especially at signature restaurants.

I still remember that dinner at Spoodles (not signature, and kind of loud on it's own) where we were seated near a family with a little guy who spent the entire time screaming at the top of his lungs and squirming down his chair and under the table. It was well after 9pm and I couldn't help but think it was probably past his bedtime he was probably exhausted from a full day of activities. Or maybe he just doesn like to sit in restaurants.

Of course, the parents didn't bother removing him to prevent disrupting other diners. It was irritating enough to hear this kid scream all thorough my meal, but if I were paying the kind of money they charge at a signature restaurant I would have asked my server to do something about it.

 

[jackskellingtonsgirl]

I agree that it depends on the way your children conduct themselves in restaurants.

If you have to go to extraordinary lengths to get them to behave (like the people we saw at Citrico's who plopped a DVD player just smaller than my laptop in the middle of the table so their child could watch a movie) then maybe it would be better to book something more casual or hire a sitter for the evening.

If your children are quiet and content with some paper and crayons then you are good to go!

Our meal at Cali Grill last month went at lightning speed - we were out in under an hour, and that was appetizer, entree, and dessert & coffee. We felt like we were really under some serious time pressure to turn over our table!

On the other hand, we have spent 2 solid hours at Coral Reef.

 

[Noelle]

I have trained my kids pretty well when it comes to fine dining. My oldest daughter was begging us to take her to V&A when she turned 14. My younger daughter can handle fancy restaurants but there's a time limit. The best advice I can give you is "know you child". I think most parents know what their child's limit is. As one of the previous posters said, signature restaurants don't rush you along.
We brought my younger daughter to California Grill to see the fireworks when she was around 6. She fell asleep before her food came. I saw it coming...I knew she couldn't eat that late, but I was determined to enjoy CG for Wishes. We've eaten at the Flying Fish, Citricos, Narscooses, Brown Derby, Yachtsman’s steak house, Bistro de Paris (older daughter only) & V&E (again older daughter only). I know that my younger daughter needs to be hungry (but not starving), not overly tired, and we need to finish dining in 1 1/2 hours. If not, she'll start to get cranky.
I've been really lucky and my kids have always been great at all of the restaurants we've been at. But then I know that my youngest daughter is not the same as my oldest daughter, so I don't think we'll be taking her to V&A for her 14th B-day like her sister.

 

[crisi]

I personally wouldn't take MY young children (they are older now) to any signature spot. My own kids, while normally fairly well behaved (a fellow DISer complemented us on the cruise on the behavior of our kids), over the course of a long dinner they could be unpredictible. My daughter was tantrum prone. My son didn't like to sit still. And I just don't enjoy a meal when the conversation included frequent references to "inside voices" and risks having an expensive steak out of a styrofoam box and skipping dessert.

They are now ten and eleven and have eaten almost everywhere at Disney. They grow up so fast I don't regret not rushing it.

 

[Elmo888]

I have been reading reports of certain signature dining experiences being more suitable for families with young children than others. Then the next poster will say to definitely not take young children to the restaurant.

So my questions is, aside from V & A's because we know they can't go there, which signature dining experience would you definitely not take or expect to see young children at? My children will be 4 and 3 years old when we go.

There isn't anywhere that you can't take them. I would just go early - try to get an ADR around 4:30 - 5:30 and bring snacks, like raisins. Don't hesitate to give them something to eat if they ask and you haven't been served food yet (even while you are on the transportation on the way to dinner). They will probably be happy at an early dinner, and there will probably be a number of other small children at that time. In my experience, as it gets later, there are fewer small children and the small children that are there are unhappy (with good reason).

We took DDs, 7 and 3 at the time, to Jiko for an early dinner (it was 5:30 or 5:40 - just after they opened), and it was fine.

 

[aprilmommy0205]

We ate at Narcoosee and Yachtsman on our trip last week. We had fairly early reservations at both. Both restaurants had a lot of kids there. At Yachtsman, several of the children were loud. An older woman dining with an older gentleman kept giving the offending parties dirty looks. She seemed really put off that kids were even there, let alone not behaving well. My kids generally behave well in restaurants, but if they weren't, we'd take them out so as not to ruin the experience for everyone else.